When covering an event, I try to think of it as telling a story. So there are seven things I try to always have in my coverage. This week, I discovered that my friend Mark Sandlin, Director of Photography for Southern Living, uses this same list. The list is what all photojournalists have drilled into them.

1. Opener: Sets the scene for the story
2. Decisive moment: The one moment that can by itself tell the story
3. Details: Besides being like visual candy to the report, help often with transitions–especially in multimedia packages
4. Sequences: give a little variety to a situation
5. High overall shot: Gives a good perspective on how the elements all fit together.
6. Closer: Besides the classic shot of the cowboy riding off into the sunset, there are other visual ways to help bring the story to a close
7. Portraits: These photos are great for introducing the characters of the story

Below are photos from an annual meeting where the investors come in, and the company gives them an overview of what they have done and where they are going.

One thing I am working hard to do is to make each photo have an impact on engaging the audience. I use light, angles, composition, and, most important, expressions of people to engage the viewer. I wanted my photos to help this company communicate they are vibrant and viable in today’s market.

The decisive moment photo should be the one that is used alone and not part of the package could tell the story. Which of the ones above did you see that would work for you?

Did you notice the sequence of the panel? Now the hard part is often a closer. Sometimes you don’t have an ending. No closer is because you want to communicate. There was so much to see. You want to leave the audience visually craving for more rather than wrapping it up to say well, that is everything.

I suggest sitting down before you arrive to shoot a story, thinking through everything you know about the assignment, and making a list. Then, write down on a notepad that you will carry with you the outline of the seven shots. Under each one, list a couple of options for each.

As you shoot your story, check off the photos that you get. Then, use your notepad to get the names of people for the captions.

Once you have everything checked off on your list, don’t stop shooting. I continue to shoot more photos, but now I may be looking more and taking fewer shots. I cherry-pick the moments I think will be better than I already have.

I want to thank my friend Mark Sandlin for reminding me of what I do with every assignment so I can share this with you.

By the way, Mark said he wished he had said one more thing to those attending the class. He wanted to say, “if you haven’t made any mistakes, you are trying hard enough.”

Addie Card, 12 years. Spinner in North Pormal [i.e., Pownal] Cotton Mill. Vt.

Lewis Hine is a photographer I have studied and admired, and I think of him when I struggle for something to photograph. Like Hine, I started my studies in the social sciences. Then, I studied social work and quickly realized my calling was to be a photojournalist.  

Lewis Hine studied sociology at the University of Chicago, Columbia University, and New York University. He became a teacher in New York City at the Ethical Culture School, where he encouraged his students to use photography as an educational medium. The classes traveled to Ellis Island in New York Harbor, photographing the thousands of immigrants who arrived each day. Between 1904 and 1909, Hine took over 200 photographs and eventually realized that his vocation was photojournalism. 

Hine went on to work for the Russell Sage Foundation, which improved social and living conditions in the United States. After just a couple of years with the foundation, he went to work for the National Child Labor Committee. He did this for ten years, and his work helped to change the labor laws for children. 

During WWII, he worked for the American Red Cross, covering the work in Europe. In 1930 he photographed the workers building the Empire State building. To get the photos of workers through the years, he would take similar risks to the workers were taking. He was in a unique basket 1,000 feet out over 5^th Avenue to get that unique angle while working on the Empire State Building project. 

Lewis Hine’s work is so powerful because he knew what he was photographing and why he was doing it. He was doing something useful with his photography. Hine said, “If I could tell the story in words, I wouldn’t need to lug around a camera.”

The fun in photography is when you take on a challenge and bring all your creativity to it to help communicate an idea or concept to your audience. But, unfortunately, when you use a lot of typical clichés, it quickly becomes tiresome.

Not knowing what to photograph is an excellent time to ask yourself what you stand for as a person. First, you need to understand your relationship to the things around you and their meaning. Observation is how you form thoughts and convictions about the world. It is not from formal education—it is from a sense of caring about people and the world in which you live. 

When you have this gut check, it will give you the inspiration to take on a subject and communicate how you feel about it, not just a documentation of its existence but its significance to you. You want people to respond, and this is what motivates you.

I am struggling to find subjects that often lack personal convictions. 

The secret is to think about the audience. Knowing the audience gives me a goal in mind. I must love or hate the subject to get my emotions going and create a mood and feeling that I want to communicate beyond the obvious. 

You tend to scapegoat your responsibilities when you find yourself in a mental block. This is where you often look for a formula or copy someone else’s concept. I see this most often in sports photography. You see the photographers all standing together. One of my friends Scott Cunningham who photographs the NBA for Getty Images, is rarely sitting next to other photographers. He is in the stands and always looking for something different. 

Another scapegoat photographers use is that they don’t have a piece of equipment, or their equipment limits them. Remember, we still haven’t exhausted all that is possible with the simple point-and-shoot. Be careful that you are not buying new equipment as a way to inspire you. Instead, take the time to think and feel about your world.

“What shall I photograph?” will not be an issue. Instead, the problem becomes, “How can I say it clearly and with enough emotion that my audience is moved to action because of my photos?”